February 2018 at the South Cariboo Elizabeth Fry Society

Across Canada, the Elizabeth Fry Society supports women in accessing community-based, publicly funded social service, health, and educational resources. Here at our South Cariboo offices, based in Ashcroft BC, we work towards this goal every day by providing the food bank, support groups for parenting and women, and working with other groups in our community. In February 2018, many of our programs have been successful and we had some news to share. So, here is what happened at the South Cariboo Elizabeth Fry Society last month:

Projects and Partnerships

We have been talking with the Canoe Creek Band and the Ashcroft Indian Band to work on some upcoming projects and partnerships. We’re excited about what’s going on here and we can’t wait to tell you more! Keep watching for more news and information in coming months!

Food Banks BC Committee

Our own Yoriko Susanj has been asked to sit on a committee with Food Banks BC to look into and set food bank member standards for the province of BC. Food Banks BC’s mission is to “inspire, empower and support [their] members to achieve hunger-free communities”. This is exciting news for all of us at the office here since we run Ashcroft and Area Food Bank. The province’s Food Banks will benefit from Yoriko’s experience and dedication to helping make sure no one goes hungry.

Yoriko will be busy every two weeks with committee meetings - which will continue until the end of May.

Support Groups

This year we have been running Grandparents Raising Grandchildren and Women’s Wellness Circle groups. We’re happy to report that throughout February these meetings have been well-received and well-attended! Anyone who would like to learn more about these groups should contact us by phone or email.

Coffee Hour Group

After hearing some feedback and considering how connecting to others is helping so many individuals live better lives, we are hoping to start a Coffee Hour group. Keep checking back for updates on this! The groups will be open to all. It will be a place where people can come and be social, but can also talk about issues that they all have in common. For example we could discuss landlord – tenant issues, social isolation, budgeting, and much more. When they start, Coffee Hour will be on the Thursdays following our Food Bank days from 1pm to 2pm. We hope to start in March!

We are excited about all of this progress over February and are looking forward to see what progress we will make in March! As always we want to send out a big thank you to the communities in our catchement area.